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Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
05/04/2006 3:43 pm
hmm.. that might make things a little tough.
This is gonna be real tough to explain too.

Basically the way I go about doing drum tracks from scratch is to first get a visual idea of what the song looks like on paper. In other words, divide the song up into:
Intro/Verse 1/Verse 2/Chorus/Verse 3/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus/Repeat

Then map out what bar each section starts on. That way, if I want to edit a particular part of the song, I can just refer to my notes.

Next is to find the right kit to load up into Battery and then figure out what keys on the keyboard trigger specific parts of the kit. (basically using masking tape above the keys, I'll write in what each key plays.. snare/kick/hihat etc...

Then I'll do a scratch drum track of a basic 4/4 beat that I'll just copy and paste throughout the entire song. To do that I'll vary between using the onscreen editor and using a midi keyboard to physically play the sounds.
After I have the basic beat down, I'll record some scratch instrumental and vocal tracks to use as a guide. Then go back to the drums and work on each section of the song. A lot of it is just copying and pasting... ie, the 3 verses are going to be pretty much identical with the exception of a few drum rolls or added percussion. Same thing with the chorus.

I take each part of the drum kit separately... like starting with the hihat, I'll listen to the original and program in any variations in velocity to match what the original drummer was doing. The snare and kick will be pretty static through the whole song. Lastly, I'll add crashes and drum rolls... then kinda think like a drummer so that it sounds like a real player with only two hands.

All this is kinda dependant on knowing how to play drums to a certain extent tho.